UC San Diego

Fusion protein RUNX1-ETO (AML1-ETO, RUNX1-RUNX1T1) is expressed as the result of the 8q22;21q22 translocation [t(8;21)], which is one of the most common chromosomal abnormalities found in acute myeloid leukemia. RUNX1-ETO is thought to promote leukemia development through the aberrant regulation of RUNX1 (AML1) target genes. Repression of these genes occurs via the recruitment of the corepressors N-COR and SMRT due to their interaction with ETO. Mechanisms of RUNX1-ETO target gene upregulation remain less well understood. Here we show that RUNX1-ETO9a, the leukemogenic alternatively spliced transcript expressed from t(8;21), upregulates target gene Alox5, which is a gene critically required for the promotion of chronic myeloid leukemia development by BCR-ABL. Loss of Alox5 expression reduces activity of RUNX1-ETO9a, MLL-AF9 and PML-RARα in vitro. However, Alox5 is not essential for the induction of leukemia by RUNX1-ETO9a in vivo. Finally, we demonstrate that the upregulation of Alox5 by RUNX1-ETO9a occurs via the C₂H₂ zinc finger transcription factor KLF6, a protein required for early hematopoiesis and yolk sac development. Furthermore, KLF6 is specifically upregulated by RUNX1-ETO in human leukemia cells. This identifies KLF6 as a novel mediator of t(8;21) target gene regulation, providing a new mechanism for RUNX1-ETO transcriptional control.